Fireproof building construction



March 31. 1925.

v D. A. SULLIVAN FIREPROOF BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed May 31, 1923 J INVENTOR flzm'elfl. fizz/1 mm ATTORNEYS,

and useful Improvements in Fireproof.

Patented Mar; 31, 1925.

DANIEL AIs Lmv iq,

or BRO'NX, New YORK.

' f rmnrnoorj summits. CONSTRUCTION.

Application flledMay 31, 1923. Serial No. 642,439.

To all whom it may concern-1 I Be it known thatI, DANIEL A; SULLIVAN,

a citizen of theUnited States, and-residing at 'BIOHX, in the county ofBronX and State of New; York, 'have invented certain new .Buiilding Constructions, of which the fol:

lowing is a specification, such as will en-.

able those; Skilled in the art to which it appertainsto make and use the same.

This invention "relates to improvements in building constructionsand particularly to a new methodof constructing buildings of various kinds and classes'to render the same fireproof and more particularly to confining fire to a predetermined room or compartment in a building and also to so con struct the walls, floors and ceilings, of building, as well as the 'fram'eworkofthe building to preventathecollapsing of'the floors, walls or ceilings thereof as well as the framework 'inthe event-Jot a fire in a predetermined room or-compartment in a build ing,and the object'ofthe invention is to provide a building, of the class specified the intercommunicating spaces formedby inner and outer facings in the construction of such walls fioors, ceilings and the 11kt,

and further to the provision ofineans for introducing water; into said spaces and whereby the water introduced into said spaces, will rise under; heat, and by reason L of filling such. spaces, tothe'ceiling or root structure of a building andv be discharged building in which a. predetermined "fire is onto and-over, the roofg'ia further object being to provide means for confiningthe waterto the spaces withinthe walls, floor,-

ceiling'or roof as we'll'asthe doors ofa predetermined room f or; compartment of a located; and a further object" being to-pro? hereinafter described and claimed.

ride automatically actuated means for corn.

trolling the dischargecf water into such spaces; and with these and other objects in view the invention consists in building'constructionof the class and-fl rthev purpose specified which is simple in construction, ef-1 ficient m use and -Wl'l10l1 reconstructed as The invention is fully disclosed in the fol lowingspecification, of' which the accompanying drawing forms a part, in whlch "the separate parts of my improvementflare' in each of the views, and in whichz- Fig. l is a perspective diagrammatic sec tional view of a building or part of a build ing made according tomy invention;

Fig. 2 is a, sectional detail view on an enlarged scale of apart of theconstruction shown in Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 3 is a detail view of another part of the construction shown in Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale. i

In Fig. l of the drawing 1 have shown for the purpose of illustrating one use of my invention, the upper structure of a dock or pier, and in said figure 5 represents the floor of the pier, 6 the side walls thereof, 7

the roof construction and 8 partition walls dividing the upper structure of the pier into a plurality. of rooms or compartments.

In constructing the floor, walls and roof -designated by suitable reference characters structure of the pier'the floor is made of an upper; floor member 5 and a lower floor member 5 'spaced apart bysuitable members5 of openwork construction to form a. chamber or space 5, while the walls 6 are walls, floors and ceilings oflwhich' as well as the doors and the like are providedavith' composed of inner members 6 and outer members 6 spaced apart'by openwork brace structure are composed of two outer wall.

members 8 and 8 andan intermediate wall member 8 between which and the first named wall members are'spa'ces 8 and 8? respectively, and thewall members 8 and 8 are spaced from the wall member 8 by openwork lbrace members Sfland-the spaces 8 and 8 are in communication with the spaces 5, 6 and 7, but the spaces 8 and 8 are not in communication, and this is accomplished, by extending the wall-member 8 intothe spaces .5, 6 and 7 thiswall is shown entering the spaces 7 at 8 in Fig. 1, the reason for this latter construction is to confine the intercommunlcatmg spaces 5, 6 and 7 d to predeterpier structure.

'mined rooms or compartments inthe entire I It will beunderstood that the partition wall 8 divides the upper pier structure, in the construction shown, into two rooms or compartments 9 and 10, and in the drawing I have shown two doors 11 and 12 in the room or compartment 9, both of these doors being substantially of the same construction and being suspended from and movable longitudinally on guide: rails '13, and the doors 11 and 12 are both made hollow or provided with spaces 14, and thisspace is shown in the door 12, and coupled with the lower end portions of both of the doors'on a swiveled mounting are-pipes 15 and similar pipes 16 are connected with the lower end portions of the inner wall member 6 and 8' respectively, and the pipes 15 and 16 are coupled together by swiveled joints 1'? and other pipes 18 are coupled withthe upper end portions of the doors 11 and 12 and have swiveled couplings 19 with pipes 20 which are mounted in the inner walls 6 and 8 respectively. The above described construction places the chambers or spaces 6 and 8 in communication with the chambers or spaces 14 in the doors 11 and 12 at two different points.

At the peak of the roof structure 7 of the pier and arranged to communicate with the spaces 7 of the separate rooms or compartments 9 and 10, etc., are tubular discharge members 21 having conical caps 22 which prevent the passage of rain water or the like into the spaces of the floor, walls and roof structure and also operate to defiect the water discharged from said spaces onto the outer wall member 7 of the roof structure, and this water is preferably collectedin gutters 23 at the opposite sides of the roof structure, one of which is shown in Fig. 1 and is discharged through a pipe 24: which communicates with the gutter or gutters 23.

The top structure of the pier is reinforced and supported by an external framework construction 25 comprising a plurality of standards 26 joined by longitudinal members 27 and transverse members 28, and the object of this construction is to prevent the direct heat from a lire in a predetermined room or compartment from coming in contact with this frame structure and thus preventing the collapsing of the frame structure of the building or of the upper'pier structure as shown in the accompanying drawing.

Mounted centrally and longitudinally of the upper or peaked portion of the roof structure 7 of the pier and extending longi tudinally therethrough is a water supply pipe 29 provided at predetermined points preferably within the separate rooms or compartments of abuilding by the pier structure as shown in the accompanying drawing with laterally and downwardly directed pipes 30, one of which is shown complete in Fig. 1 of the drawing, and these pipes communicate with the spaces 6 through the walls 6 of the pier at the bottom thereof or adjacent to the floor structure 5 as clearly shown. In the pipes 30 adjacent to their coupling with the pipe 29 are spaced valves 31 as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, said valves being normally closed and provided with operating levers 32 having weights 33 at their free ends and normally held in an inoperative position by a fusible coupling 34 suspended from the pipe 29.

My invention will be readily understood from the foregoing description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and the following statement. For example let us assume that a fire should start in the'room or compartment 9, the fusible connection 34 when subjected to the heat oat the fire will be fused thus releasing the weighted levers 32 to move said levers by reason of the weights 33 into position to open the valves 31 thus allowing water from the pipe 29 to pass downwardly into and through the pipes 30 and thus into the spaces 6 as well as the space 5, of the walls and floor structure of the room or compartment 9 and also into the space 8 of the partition wall .8, this water will then arise by volume, and also by reason of its being heated, into the spaces 7 and thus out over the roof structure 7 through the discharge 21 enclosing the'room or compartment 9. In the aforesaid operation water will also pass into the spaces or chambers 14 of the doors 11 and 12 through the pipes 16 and 15 and out from said spaces through the pipes 18 and 20, and in this way a circulation of water is provided through all of the spaces 5 6, 7, 8 and 14 thus operating to keep the partition walls, floor and roof structure of the compartment 9 cool at all times, said spaces operating as water-jackets for the room or compartment 9, and while the fire may destroy orpartially destroy the material stored within the specific room or compartment 9 it cannot: enter into adjacent rooms or compartments, and it will also be apparent that the water which passes through the spaces in the walls, floor and roof structure as'well as the partition walls is confined to the chamber 9 and does not pass into said spaces around or through rooms or compartments of the pier structure and by providing comparatively shallow spaces, for example, approximately one inch from. wall member to wall member a great volume of water will not be required.

one water supply pipe 29 may be employed.

I also employ one or more discharge valves pertinent thereof being located outwardly of vention into effect that I am not necessarily ters Patent, is

which communicate with the lower spaces 5 and 6 surrounding the separate rooms or compartments 9' and 10, whereby after water has been introduced into the form the desiredufunction and this water supply so introduced is shutoff, the water remaining in these spaces may be drained off and this would especially be the case during wintertime or in freezing weather.

.It will also be apparent that while I have shown a specific method of carrying my inlimited ,to any specific use of my improved building construction as the same may be employed in the construction of independent rooms or compartments, or in the construction of an entire building of any kind or class, and various changes in and modifications of the construction herein shown and described may be made, within the scopeof the appended claims, without, departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages.

,Havingfully I claim as new and desire to secure by Letp 1. A'building construction of the class described the floor, walls and ceiling 'or roof ofone ormorerooms or compartments of which are provided with intercommunicating spaces, means controlled by a fusible element for flHtOIIlfitlCELllY introducing water into said spaces, said spaces being formed by inner and-outer floor, wall or ceiling members, and the frame workof the building or theroom or compartment thereof being 10- cated outwardly of the outer floor,-wall or 2. A building construction of. the class describedthe floor, walls and ceiling or roof of one or more rooms or compartments of which are provided with intercommunicating spaces, means controlled by. a fusible element for automatically introducing water 'intoithe lower portionof said spaces, said spaces being formed by inner and outer floor, wall or, ceiling members, the framework of the building or the room or compartment thereof being located outwardlyof the outer floor, wall or ceiling members, and means for discharging water from the space in said ceiling orxroof member. 1 v y V 3. buildingconstruction of the class described the floor, walls and cealing or roof of one or more roomsor compartments of which are provided with intercommunicating' spaces, meanscontrolled by a fusibleelemerit for automatically 1I1tI'OCluClng; water into the lowerportion of said spaces, said spaces being formed by inner, and outer floor, wall or ceiling members, the frame work of the build ng orthe room; or com-,

described my invention, what insaid ceiling or roofmember, and means a for draining water from said spaces. intercommunlcatmg spaces around the predetermined room or compartment and per-- ing or roof member, means for draining water from said spaces, the building, or the separate rooms or compartments thereof, being provided with, doors having spaces therein, and means for circulating thewater in troduced into said wall spaces through the spaces in said doors, said last named means involving movably connected pipe elements.

5. A pier building structure'of the class describedcomprising a suitable structural framework within which is formed a floor, walls and partition walls and roof structures composed of inner and outer members between which are intercommunicating spaces and said partition walls being so constructed as to divide the building structure into a plurality of rooms or compartments, the intercommunicating spaces of which are sub-V divided.

'6. A, pier building structure of the class described comprising a suitable structural nicating spaces of the floor, walls and roof of the separate compartments.

7. A pierbuilding structure of the class described comprising a suitable structural framework within which is formed a floor, walls andpartition walls and roof structures composed of inner and outer members between which are intercommunicating spaces and saidpartition walls being so constructed as 'todivide the building structure into a pluralityofrooms or compartments, the in-' tercommunicating spaces of which are subdivided, awater supply pipe extending longitudinally of the building, other pipes communicating with said supply pipe and in communication with the intercommunicating spaces of the floor,walls and roofot the separate compartments, and valves for controlling the passage of water into said last named pipes.

S. A pier building structure of the class described comprising a suitable structural framework within which is formed a floor, walls and partition walls and rooi structures composed of inner and outer members between which are intercommunicating spaces and said partition walls being so constructed as to divide the building structure into a plurality of rooms or compartments, the intercommunicating spaces of which are sub-divided, a water supply pipe extending longitudinally of the building, other pipes communicating with said supply pipe and in communication with the intercommunieating spaces or the door, walls and root of the separate compartments, valves for controlling the passage of water into said last named pipes, said valve bein normally closed, and means involving a fusible element for retaining said valves in a closed position and whereby when said fusible element is broken the valves are automatically moved into an open position to permit the passage of water into said intercommunicating spaces.

9. A pier building structure of the class described comprising a. suitable structural framework within which is formed a floor, walls and partition walls and root structures composed of inner and outer members between which are inter communicating spaces and said partition walls being so constructed as to divide the building structure into a plurality of rooms or compartments, the intercommunicating spaces of which are sub-divided, a water supply pipe extending longitudinally of the building, other pipes communicating with said supply pipe and in communication with the intercomiminicating spaces of the floor, walls and root of the separate compartments, valves for control ling the passage of water into said last named pipes, said valves being normally closed, means involving a fusible element for retaining said valves in a closed position and whereby when said fusible element is broken the valves are automatically moved into an open position to permit the passage of water into said intercoimnunicating spaces, and means for discharging water from the spaces in the roof structure of the separate rooms or compartments.

10. A pier building structure of the class described comprising a suitable structural frame-work :ithin which is formed a floor, walls and partition walls and roof structures composed of inner and outer members between which are inter-communicating spaces and said partition walls being so constructed as to divide the building structure into a r plurality of rooms or compartments, the in tercommunicat-ing spaces of which are sub divided, a water supply pipe extending longitudinally of the building, other pipes communicating with said supply pipe and in communication with the intercommunicating spaces of ti e floor, walls and root of the separate compartment-s, valves for cont-rolling the passage of water into said last named pipes, said valves being normally closed. means involving a fusible element for retaining said valves in a closed position and whereby when said fusible element is broken the valves are automatically moved into an open position to permit the passage of water into said intercommunicating spaces, means for discharging water from the spaces in the roof structure of the sep arate rooms or compartments, and means for draining water from said intercommunieating spaces.

11. A pier building structure of the class described comprising a suitable structural framework within which is formed a floor, walls and par ition walls and roof structures composed of inner and outer members between which are intercommunicating spaces and said partition walls being so constructed as to divide the building structure into a plurality of rooms or compartments, the interconnnunicating spaces of which are sub-divided, a water supply pipe extending longitudinally of the building, other pipes communicating with said supply pipe and in communication with the intercomlnunicating spaces of the floor, walls and roof of the separate compartments, valves for cont-rolling the passage of water into said last named pipes, said valves being normally closed, means involving a fusible element for retaining said valves in a closed position and whereby when said fusible element is broken the valves are automatically moved into an-open position to permit the passage ofwater into said intercommunieating spaces, means -for discharging water from the spaces in the roof structure of the separate rooms or compartments, means for draining water from said intercommunicating spaces, and one or more walls of the separate compartments provided with door openings adapted to be closed by doors having spaces therein.

12. A pier building structure of the class described comprising a suitable structural framework within which is formed a floor, walls and partition walls and roof structures composed of inner and outer members hetween which are intercoimminicating spaces 7 and said partition walls being so constructed as to divide the building structure into a plurality of rooms or compartments, the intercommunicating spaces of which are subdivided, a Water supply pipe extending longitudinally of the building, other pipes position and whereby when said fusible element is broken the valves are automatically movedinto'an open posltlon to permit the passage of water into said intercon'imunicat- 1mg spaces, means for discharging water from the spaces in the roof structure of the separate rooms or compartments, means for draining water from said intercommunieating spaces, one or more walls of the separate compartments provided with door openings adapted to be closed by doors having spaces therein, andvmeans for circulating water through the spaces in said doors.

13. A pier building structure of the class described comprising a suitable structural framework within which is formed a floor, walls and partition walls and roof structures composed of inner and outer members between which are spaces and said partition walls being so con structed as to divide'the building structure into a plurality ofroomsor' compartments,

intercommimicating the intercommunicating spaces of'which are sub-divided, a water supply pipe extending longitudinally of the building, other pipes communicating with said supply pipe and in communication with the intercommunicating spaces of the floor, walls and roof of the separate compartments, valves for controlling the passage of water intosaid last named pipes, said valves being normally closed, means involving a fusible element for retaining said valves in a closed position and whereby when said fusible ele ment is broken the valves are automatically moved into an open position to permit the passageof water into said intercommunicating spaces, means for discharging water from the spaces in the roof structure of the separate rooms or compartments, means for draining water from said intercommunicating spaces, one or more walls of the separate compartments provided with door openings adapted to be closed by doors having spaces therein, and means for circulating water through the spaces in said doors,

said means involving swiveled pipe con structions.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name this 25th day of May 1923.

DANIEL A. SULLIVAN. 

